A CHappy Ending
by KittyCrow12
Summary: In the kingdom of Extalia, we follow a young male exceed named Happy Dragneel through his final year of university prep school. Between school and his classmates, it seems that the poor bluenette can't catch a break! High school, Modern AU.
1. You're My Tutor?

**Hello friends! KittyCrow12 is here with a brand new story! This story is set in a modern and alternate dimension AU, where exceeds are people with exceed ears, tails, and wings. Also in this AU, pure white wings are very rare, so almost no character in this story will have white wings. Speaking of characters, there won't be any characters that aren't exceeds in this story. Why you ask? I don't really know myself! I just was kinda thinking that it would be a change in pace to most other ffs… So here goes nothing; this is the first chappie of "A CHappy Ending!"**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Fairy Tail franchise; that belongs to Mashima-sensei.**

 _Italics: Someone's thoughts_

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A CHappy Ending Ch. 1

It was all Happy Dragneel could do to not beat his head against a wall. Here he was in a college prep modelled high school, about to fail out his second to last semester if he didn't ace the rest of his exams.

"Mr. Dragneel?" Mr. Nadi impatiently asked as his tail flicked from side to side. "If I could _please_ have your attention for just a few minutes, I can send you on your merry way. I'm trying to inform you that you are in desperate need of a tutor to be able to pass _any_ of your classes this semester. Do you even consider your education to be that important?"

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed as he was brought out of his stupor. Poor Happy just couldn't get a break, between his lacking grades to his thick rimmed glasses and worn hand-me-down clothes with his slight build and stature, it was no wonder that students loved to pick on him. "I was just a little surprised when you gave me the news that's all… I haven't struggled in school like this before…"

"Well if you spent more time taking notes than having your head in the clouds and staring at – ah! Here she is!" Mr. Nadi's tone immediately changed from one of resentment to utter delight. "You're just the girl I wanted to see. Miss Marvell, I…"

The rest of that sentence was a garbled mess in Happy's ears as he turned to face the girl which so happened to be his lifelong crush. _Well, maybe not lifelong… but ever since I met her, she's been the only girl I've ever seen…_ the blue haired boy thought to himself as he took in the white haired beauty that was Carla Marvell. The girl was of average height and had curves in all the right places; from her heart-shaped face, all the way down to her petite feet, she was the very essence of feline elegance. Her deep brown eyes scrutinized the situation before her, contemplating what Mr. Nadi was telling her, all while her snowy white tail lazily swished back and forth.

"Are those ears on top of your head merely for decoration Mr. Dragneel?" Mr. Nadi coldly asked as the teacher's focus was once more returned to the star struck boy. "I'm trying to tell you that Miss Marvell will be your peer tutor for the rest of the year, or until you are off academic probation!"

"W-what?!" Happy and Carla squeaked simultaneously. They both looked at each other comically and then stared back at their teacher.

Carla was the first to collect herself and speak her mind. "Mr. Nadi, with all due respect, I do not think I'm qualified for such a position. I also do not have the time -"

"Nonsense," the teacher dismissed, clearly having his mind set. "You are ranked second in your graduating class only by thousandths of a point and are not involved in any extracurricular activities this semester or next, so I fail to see where you simply cannot tutor him."

The white haired girl knew it was a losing battle, but she still had one card left to play. "But what about Sammy? Surely since he's first in the class and -"

"I've already asked him and he declined due to the internship he just received working for a small law firm in Central that will be taking up all of his free time. That leaves the position open to you Miss Marvell," Mr. Nadi smirked, knowing that he had won.

"It would be an honor Mr. Nadi," Carla all but growled out as she fixed a hard glare on the boy who officially stole her free time. "When do we start our sessions?"

"Splendid! You will start right now. I will need to have you both here at the school so I can monitor Mr. Dragneel's progression with his learning. I'm sure that you both can go to the library and reserve a study room. I'm also sure the librarian will be happy to help. Now run along you two, I have other brats' lives I have to rui - I mean, there are other students I need to attend to…"

And with that last comment, the two students bade their farewells and made their way to the school library. They walked in awkward silence for a few minutes before Happy managed to work up enough courage to speak.

"Uh, C-Carla? I w-was j-just thinking that w-we needed t-to –"

"Will you just spit it out already?" Carla spat venomously, obviously still irate over having to take time out of her day to tutor someone. "I don't have the time to sit around babysitting you all day until you finally catch up in your classes. I –" the white haired girl cut off when she saw the boy cringe in humiliation and left the next sentence unfinished. She was about to apologize for her rudeness when a deep voice caught her attention.

"I thought you were through giving tongue lashings today Carla. This boy certainly looks the part of a sniveling dunce. Actually, you could even dare to say that he looks more like an insect with his over-sized eyes and scrawny frame," a young man with light blue hair and ears with cold black eyes commented boredly, as if assessing the situation from afar.

Happy fought the embarrassed flush of his cheeks as he looked to the ground in shame. He found himself melting under the demeaning looks that both his crush and her perfect boyfriend were giving him. He couldn't help that his family couldn't afford the contact lenses that could match the prescription for his glasses so that his eyes wouldn't appear so enormous. His vision was so terrible that he was legally blind in both eyes; the boy couldn't even make out vague shapes on a page that was less than a few centimeters away from his face without any correction.

"My assumption is that you were recruited to tutor this poor specimen since I was busy, is that correct?" Sammy continued on as if he hadn't just insulted Happy after his quick assessment of the situation.

"You're correct _my dear_ ," Carla quipped as the words sarcastically fell off her tongue. "We were just going to the library. Go on to your internship, we'll catch up later. Come along you…" Carla promptly latched a white-knuckled grip onto a bewildered Happy's arm and dragged him the rest of the way to the library, leaving a smug Sammy behind.

Happy was incredibly relieved when the white haired beauty finally released his arm in from of the library doors; his fingers were starting to feel tingly from poor circulation.

"Come on, you're walking at a snail's pace!" Carla hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Happy yelped, speeding his pace to match hers.

"How may I help you today?" a bored female voice suddenly asked, bringing the pair of students' attention to the owner of said voice.

"We need a study room," Carla quickly began and paused momentarily as she watched the librarian's eyes roll.

"If you're not going to study, I suggest you leave now. I refuse to clean up any more messes from extracurricular activities left in the library today," the librarian sniffed. If Happy had been drinking anything, he would've had a perfect spit-take as he spluttered in response to the librarian's not so subtle innuendo.

"Ma'am," Carla picked at her nails, taking the other woman's comment without batting an eye, "I was just appointed to be this boy's tutor in every subject by Mr. Nadi not fifteen minutes ago. He told us that we must study on the school campus so that this student's progress can be effectively monitored. I do not appreciate being slandered so outlandishly when we have simply come to this library in search of an environment conducive to this boy's learning. Are we clear?" Carla ended her rant with an icy glare pointed at the librarian. As much as the other woman tried to hide it, Happy noticed a trace of fear in the librarian's eyes as she tried to keep up her indifferent façade.

"Follow me then," the librarian huffed, clearly annoyed that the white haired girl had gotten under her skin and led the pair to a wall lined with locked study rooms. After she quickly unlocked one of the doors, the older woman turned to face the students. "Let me know when you're finished using the room so I can lock it up after you leave. And no funny business!" With that last word, the librarian spun on her heel and stalked back to her post at the reception desk.

"Insecure cretin," Carla muttered under her breath and opened the door for Happy to walk in first. "Get in, you. You don't have time to waste staring like a gaping fish."

"A-aye!" Happy stuttered. Carla sighed in annoyance and followed the boy into the room to take the seat closest to the door after she shut it.

"Okay, is there a subject in particular that you would like to start on?" the girl asked as she trained her gaze on Happy. When said boy shook his head no, she gave a scowl. "Oh, come on! There's got to be one subject that you'd like to start on… Seriously? Ugh, fine! We'll start with math."

* * *

Happy sighed heavily as he finally approached the front door of his family's house. He had spent the past four hours in the library with his long term crush and she completely ripped him to shreds. She tried to cover as much content as possible, but they barely made any progress because he kept making mistakes with his work. She had given her own assignments on top of the homework that was given by the teachers to help "supplement" the learning process. He knew without a doubt that there wouldn't be much sleep in his nearby future and resigned himself to make a large pot of coffee for the long night ahead.

The bluenette cautiously opened the door to listen for either of his parents, not wanting to face them in his current exhausted state. Sighing with relief, he realized that neither parent was home yet and he trudged to the kitchen to throw together some semblance of a meal. Happy pulled the refrigerator door open and ran a hand through his hair when he remembered that leftover night was last night, so he was left with either making a sandwich, or braving some of the casserole that looked rather suspicious…

 _Sandwich it is!_ immediately thought Happy and he dug in the fridge for ingredients. With his dinner in hand, he chomped on his sandwich is he dragged himself up to his room on the second floor of their home. Throwing his backpack on the bed, he started setting up his small desk for the homework session to come… and realized that he had forgotten to make any coffee. _Argh! Now I have to make another trip…_ Happy thought with a sigh.

Ten minutes later with a thermos in hand, the blue haired boy once more clabbered up the stairs and knew that he would be self-sufficient for the next several hours. "Hopefully I can finish all of this work before two in the morning…"

* * *

 **And that's one down! I'm sure a lot of people noticed, but I used the canon partners' last names (if at all possible) for their last names since no exceed has a last name… I tried really hard to research, but I figured that it was somewhat better this way; it kinda gives a shout out to the slayers and companions that influenced so much of their canon lives.**

 **I'm going to try to update this fiction once a week since I have the first few chappies already typed out. Get excited for regular updates! Woo! Thank you so much for reading and until next time, buh-bye! :D**


	2. Actual Conversation?

**Previously on Dragonball – heh heh nope! Sorry about that folks; sometimes the announcer guy's voice gets stuck in my head and there are a few times after that when I can't resist saying it aloud or in this case, type it! I know I'm getting into dangerous waters having two multi-chaps going at once, but I actually have the entire plot completely planned out for this one, and it's going to be much shorter than "Hey There…" But enough of that! Here's chappie number two of "A CHappy Ending!"**

 **Disclaimer: Loose lips sink ships and liars commit fraud! …I don't think that's how the saying goes, but meh…**

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A CHappy Ending Ch. 2

The next two weeks of Happy's tutoring sessions continued much like the first, to Happy's dismay. Every day after school, he would meet a scowling Carla in the library and they would go find an empty study room where they could discuss academic matters. Every day, Happy would feel her disapproving eyes on him as he tried solving numerous math problems, edited paragraphs, filled out history trivia worksheets, and struggled with the laws of physics (not only gravity, but other equations as well) for hours on end while he attempted and failed to correctly finish his work. She would snap at him and tug the papers away from the boy and solve them herself, roughly showing him what she did to come to each answer.

So midway through October, when Happy finished working up the courage to walk into their usual meeting place after school, he was surprised to see his tutor with a glum expression on her face as opposed to one of fiery disgust.

"Uh, Carla?" Happy asked, uncertain if the change was for the better.

"What do you want?" the white haired girl snapped, but with none of her usual vigor. "Let's just get to the study room okay? I don't have time to waste…"

"Never mind," Happy quickly replied, receiving a withering look from the girl. What alarmed the boy most though was it was as if she was just going through the motions, not even paying attention to her surroundings. Even her disdain for him was lackluster, and that was saying something. Without another word to her, the boy opened the door to the study room and held the door for her as she walked in.

"No one called for your chauvinism," Carla muttered and somehow managed to gracefully plop into her chair. "Hurry up so we can get started on this meaningless session."

"Okay…" Happy trailed off, not sure on how to proceed. The bluenette knew that he needed to get some headway on his homework while he was with Carla so he didn't have as many questions, but she seemed to be in a worse mood than normal…

"What are you staring at?" Carla asked calmly, her annoyance barely restrained. "We're going to start on your calculus homework first because that will take up the most time. You pull out your assignments and I'll get your next study guide worksheet."

Happy worked silently for the next hour as Carla would periodically correct him and then return back to her thoughts, sighing dejectedly for good measure.

"Carla, what's wrong?" Happy finally asked, breaking the tense silence.

"What caused you to think that?" Carla muttered, turning her head to face the wall closest to the door of the study room.

"Well, you seem less… _enthusiastic_ about making fun of me; not to mention that you've been sighing a lot more today than you usually do…" Happy trailed off, watching the white haired girl lean forward to prop her head up on the study table.

"Was it really that obvious?" Carla wryly asked as her eyes flicked over to the nervous boy. "I think you might be the first person to notice that I was doing that," she chuckled humorlessly.

"Well… I'm not sure that it was obvious, but when we spend so much one on one time together, you kinda pick up on people's habits," Happy said, thinking aloud.

"People's habits, huh?" Carla pondered, leaning back in her chair.

"Carla, are you okay? You usually don't take much stock in anything I say…" Happy said nervously, brow furrowed.

Carla shook her head as if to clear it and made eye contact with the blue haired boy for the first time in over an hour. "I'm okay; just tired I suppose?"

"I don't think that Carla Marvell would have such a melancholy expression and sigh every five minutes. That's not who you normally are, even if you're tired. Did something happen?" Happy asked seriously as he pushed the calculus homework to the side.

The next several seconds were spent in awkward silence as the white haired girl bored holes into the nerdy boy's soul as if trying to size him up. When she came to a decision, she sighed and shifted her gaze to the table in front of her. "Nothing that was particularly out of the ordinary happened, to be completely honest. My mother simply informed me that once again, she was going to be drawn into an international meeting and won't be able to attend the senior night football game this year…"

"I'm sorry Carla," Happy said, watching his mentor cringe and then while she fidgeted in her seat.

"I don't need any pity from you," Carla weakly snapped as she looked to the wall on her right.

"Carla, I'm not pitying you," the mentee started, causing the white haired mentor's ears to twitch.

"You're just saying that to try to make me feel better," she huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"No, I'm not," said Happy earnestly as he placed a hand on the simpering female's shoulder, gently turning her so that their eyes met. "It's never fun when people who are important to you have no time for you, especially when it is a major milestone in your life. You're getting an award presented to you during half time, right?"

Carla tried her best not to reel from shock. _How could he be so perceptive?!_ the girl's thoughts echoed in her mind as she schooled her features into a composed frown. "What does it matter to you if I am?"

With cheeks warming up profusely, the boy in question shied away and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "W-well… You are my mentor after all… Shouldn't I be proud that the girl that's helping me in school is the smartest in our grade and is being presented such a prestigious award? I-I mean, I'm honored that you would even pay me any attention at all-"

"Please just stop," interjected Carla softly as she held up a hand. "Flattery won't get you anywhere…"

"I'm just telling the truth," mumbled Happy as he readjusted his glasses. "Carla, say what you will, but you're practically tied at the top of the class in grades, you won the nomination for the Queen's scholarship award, and pretty much everyone either wants to be you or date you. Those aren't words of flattery; it's simple truth."

Carla fixed her mentee with a stare that made the poor boy feel as if his entire being were under scrutiny. After what seemed like a millennium, the female feline sighed once more and propped her head up with her hand on the table, her tail flitting back and forth. "So what do you propose I do with this 'simple truth' as you call it?"

"What?!" the bluenette gaped like the fish he was so fond of, his eyes the size of dinner plates. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you seem like you have the answer to my question," the white haired girl replied simply. She examined her nails for a brief moment before meeting his gaze once more.

"I, uh… Well," Happy choked out as he tried desperately to keep his heart rate under control. He scratched the back of his head nervously and his ears twitched. "I don't have the answer to your question," the boy sighed in defeat, prompting Carla to raise an eyebrow. Before the mentor could open her mouth, however, Happy cleared his throat and continued. "The truth is always simple, but what you do with it is ultimately up to you. You can use the truth about yourself in any way you see fit; I mean, you should know yourself best… right?"

The silence that followed Happy's words seemed to be charged with electricity as Carla shifted her glance from the boy to the table in front of her while her brain chewed on his answer. After what felt like an eternity to the bluenette, probably 30 seconds in real time, Carla gave the boy a wry smile. "I can't tell if what you just said was truly profound or absolutely asinine."

"Well, we can go ahead and call it stupid since I'm pretty sure I'm not that smart. I mean, I've got you to help me with my schoolwork and I'm just spitting out random sentences and hoping they make sense," Happy chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"You know what? I think you're just weird," Carla said after a long moment, seemingly satisfied with her conclusion.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not…" Happy said, scratching the back of his head in thought.

"At this point in time, consider it a neutral comment," the white haired girl stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay then," the boy nodded and then turned back to his homework. "I think I've wasted enough of your time with that, so let's continue the lesson so I can get out of your hair."

Carla nodded and then began to guide him in the study material once more. As they progressed through the lesson, Carla would ask questions about benign topics which stimulated pleasant conversation; both exceeds feeling more chipper and refreshed at the end of their session.

"Thanks again Carla for all your help!" Happy said as he waved goodbye to the white haired maiden.

"I'm glad I could be of assistance," Carla stated demurely, a faint upward curve on her lips as she raised a delicate hand in response to his exuberant farewell.

* * *

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" Happy shouted as soon as he stepped through the door.

"I'm in the kitchen Happy!" his mother called, so the boy sloughed his shoes and backpack by the front door and raced to meet her.

The bluenette noticed that his mother was in the middle of preparing their next meal and stepped up to his mother's side. "Can I help you with that?"

"Of course, my sweet boy, I'll have you start on the noodles," replied Marl as she sliced up a cut of beef.

"Oh wait! Before I do that, I have to tell you something!" the boy exclaimed, bringing his mother to the kitchen table to sit down.

"What is it dear?" the woman asked, ecstatic that her son looked happy for the first time in a few months, but confused by the ceremony.

"Mom, I think I just made a friend! She finally started telling me a bit about herself today," Happy said excitedly, barely able to contain his joy as he happily squirmed in his seat.

"Why do you say it like that?" Marl asked, curious.

"Well when I first met her, she didn't want to talk to me at all, much less breathe the same air. But when she came in today, she seemed a little down in the dumps and apparently I cheered her up. It was really neat because-"

"KAH!" came an interrupting shout from outside the kitchen and Lucky Dragneel soon shuffled into the chaos of meal prep.

"What was that for dear?" Marl asked sweetly, standing up and returning to her work.

"Stubbed my toe…" said man grumbled, pointing at said offending appendage.

"Dad, I know that my eyesight is really bad, but you'd think I got it from you the way you keep bumping into things," Happy teased and put a hand over his mouth to quiet his laughter.

"KAH!" the older male scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "The boy thinks he can run his mouth any time he wants eh?"

"Of course not!" Happy said in mock sincerity, clutching at his chest as if he was wounded. "I would never think of making light of your hardship; you wound me."

"Come're you whippersnapper!" Lucky barked with a smirk as he lunged towards his son.

The boy squeaked and ducked his father's arms to run out of the kitchen laughing the entire way.

Marl smiled to herself as she heard loud footsteps and various bumping sounds, followed by strings of playful banter. Setting her knife down after finishing cutting the meat, she sighed and called out, "I thought you two hooligans were going to help me with dinner!"

"Sorry mom!"

"Sorry sweetheart!"

The female chuckled to herself as they yelped out their apologies and quickly shuffled back into the kitchen. They promptly took up their tasks; Happy moving to cook the noodles and Lucky taking the raw meat out to the smoker outside.

"Make sure you set a timer dear! I don't want you to forget the meat this time," Marl voiced after her husband.

"Yeah, yeah," Lucky grumbled, reaching behind him to grab the timer off the counter.

"How are you feeling today mom?" Happy asked as soon as the back door shut.

"I'm feeling better than I was yesterday Happy," Marl smiled, always happy when her caring son worried about her.

"I'm glad!" Happy said, reaching to turn down the heat on the noodles.

* * *

Dinner and the rest of the evening was pleasant and even though Happy knew he still had a mound of homework to do. After he bade his parents good night, he schlepped his full backpack up the stairs with a bit more spring in his step, causing him to shake his head at his giddy behaviour. _Yes, she talked to you Happy, but that doesn't mean that she returns your feelings. Just start with being her friend first, you can work from there…_ With his mind set, the blue haired boy set about trying to tackle his homework.

* * *

 **And cut! How was the second chappie? Happy's parents make an entrance! Yay!**

 **I want to send a special thank you to Grimnack and Zoshi1 for your follows and Grimnack again for your review! I know it sounds cheesy, but reviews are my motivation and it's always nice to recieve feedback on what you are putting out there.**

 **Thank you guys so much again for your support and your views and I hope that you continue to enjoy this story! Until next time, buh-bye! :D**


	3. What?

**Chappie three! Woooo! Sorry this is so late, Thanksgiving had me sidetracked...**

 **Disclaimer: Whatever you might be thinking, stop thinking it. It wasn't me!**

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A CHappy Ending Ch. 3

Happy was pleased that after that day of trying to cheer Carla up, she finally started to be a little nicer to him. He was overjoyed, simply because she seemed to see him as more than a bumbling idiot who needed help in school. She would even subtly acknowledge his presence in public, which was stellar progress in the blue haired boy's opinion.

Around two weeks had passed since the new friends shared about their lives when an unsettling event threw the mentor and mentee out of schedule. Happy was sitting in one of the two classes that he and Carla shared (Calculus) when the principal's secretary abruptly slammed the classroom door open.

"Is Miss Marvell in this class?" the woman wheezed and looked as if she sprinted across the school from her office.

"I am indeed," Carla said coolly, gracefully rising to her seat to meet the secretary.

"I'm going to need you to follow me please," the staff woman stated and gently grasped the white haired girl's wrist to lead her out of the room.

"May I ask what this is about?" the student inquired, Happy noticing the slight indignation in her tone and posture.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time-"

"Please enlighten me." It wasn't a question.

The secretary sighed and bent to whisper in the girl's ear. Happy along with the rest of the class watched as the color drained from Carla's face the longer the secretary talked.

"We must leave immediately," the girl abruptly said as she turned to the Calculus teacher. "I regrettably must go. Please excuse me." Carla then hastily bowed in respect and quickly strode out of the room with the older woman hot on her heels.

Following the silence of the bizarre situation, a female student who was sitting in close proximity to where the secretary had whispered to Carla promptly turned to one of her friends and a storm of chatter erupted from the previous vacuum of noise.

It took several minutes for Happy's teacher to take control of the class and throughout the rest of the day, the blue haired boy heard the mutterings of the peanut gallery in the halls, in the cafeteria, and even in the classrooms about what supposedly happened to take one of the school's idols so abruptly out of class.

By the time Happy took his seat in his Physics class, his ears were twitching furiously from the effort they put into trying to gather information. When he had tried to approach anyone who seemed to have information earlier in the day, the bluenette's classmates all snubbed him.

When the teacher walked into class a few minutes late, he cleared his throat to get his students' attention and began to speak once all eyes were on him. "As you all might have heard, Miss Carla Marvell will not be joining us in class today." Murmurs rapidly started cropping up, but were silenced as the teacher raised a hand.

"Just to be clear, I will inform you of what will be put in the newsfeeds either later on this evening or tomorrow morning. Mrs. Shagotte Marvell was brutally attacked in her own home this morning. Her personal guard had left for a grocery run and he returned to find his charge unconscious on the floor of her office. At this point in time, it does not look as if anything was stolen out of the home or if any work sensitive files were corrupted or taken. Mrs. Marvell was immediately taken to the hospital and is currently in critical care. As soon as the school was notified, Miss Carla left to be with her mother. That is all I know and really more than I care to know. So without further ado, let us begin the lesson for today…"

* * *

"Excuse me ma'am," Happy said, standing in front of the receptionist's desk. "Is there a Shagotte Marvell that is staying here?"

"What is your relationship with Mrs. Marvell?" the receptionist asked, looking up from her paperwork through the lens of her glasses.

"Um, well…" Happy trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. "Mrs. Marvell is my friend's mother, and when my friend left class earlier today, she looked very upset and confused. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay… I mean, I know everything isn't okay, but I really want to make sure that nothing else bad has happened."

"I see," the receptionist smiled at the flustered boy and looked down at her computer screen and started typing on the keyboard. With a bit of searching, the receptionist returned her gaze to Happy. "She is staying in room 6038. Visiting hours are until six-thirty this evening. Please use the elevators that are to my right." She pointed to said elevators.

"Thank you so much ma'am!" Happy replied, relieved that he was able to visit. Walking over to the set of elevators that were supposed to take him to his destination. He was about to press the button to go up when he eyed the gift shop that was across from the receptionist's desk.

Shaking his head in disgust at himself, he strode over to the flower section of the shop. The selection the boy had to choose from was enough to make his head spin, but he managed to find a single yellow daffodil bloom that was planted in a small pot. After paying for the gift, he renewed his intentions of finding room 6038.

The elevator ride was quiet enough to unnerve Happy; there was nothing that diverted his thoughts to something less nerve-wracking. Signaling that it was his stop, the elevator chimed a pleasant sound and the doors opened, revealing a pristine white hospital floor. Nurses and technicians were all bustling about, each carting a piece of equipment or medication of some sort.

"Can I help you sweetie?" a kind voice said and Happy brought his attention to the nurse's station to where the owner of the voice sat staring at him.

"I suppose you can," Happy said in sheepish relief as he stepped closer to the nurse's station. "I'm looking for room 6038. It's on this floor right?"

"It is, but why are you here? I was told that Mrs. Marvell only had one child. The security around her room is kind of tight because of the nature that she came to us," the woman in scrubs stated, looking down briefly to scribble something Happy couldn't see behind the desk before making eye contact with him.

"W-well, Mrs. Marvell is my friend's mother, and my friend left class earlier today looking pretty upset. I just wanted to make sure that she and her mother are doing okay, considering the circumstances."

"Are you her daughter's boyfriend dear? It's so sweet of you to bring something by," the woman said with a warm smile.

"N-n-no!" Happy spluttered, his cheeks heating up instantly. "I-I'm not her b-boyfriend; I'm just Carla's friend. It's just that when she left today, it looked like she needed a friend."

"Okay, I just need to tell me your name and I can let you go see Mrs. Marvell."

"Uh, sure," the blue haired boy said as his face took on a confused expression. "Why do you need my name?"

"Due to the nature of Mrs. Marvell's visit, we have to document everyone who goes to visit her. It's just standard protocol," the woman in scrubs replied sadly.

"Oh, well in that case, my name is Happy Dragneel. Can I go visit now?"

"Sure thing Happy. Her room is down the hall to my right, furthest on the left."

"Thank you!" Happy called behind him as he made his way towards where the woman indicated at the end of the hall. He peered into the window to ensure that it was the right room and his breath caught. There in the center of the room was Carla's mother, who was covered in bandages and her wings were visible. After muttering to himself that it was rude to just stare outside the door, he steeled his nerves and turned the knob.

"Happy?!" Carla all but shrieked as her wide eyes followed the boy into the room.

"Um, yeah…" said boy sheepishly replied as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Are you one of Carla's little friends?" came a sweet, melodious voice and Happy tore his eyes away from his crush to meet Shagotte's gaze.

"Well I guess you would say that," Happy said softly as he actually took inventory of Mrs. Marvell's injuries.

Her right arm was in a sling, she had a large bandage about her right temple, her neck was in a collar, her left arm was bandaged from her wrist all the way to her shoulder, and more bandages peeked out of her too large hospital gown while the rest of her body was hidden by her blanket. What really gave the boy pause was the state of her wings. Exceeds took great pride in their wings and the older woman's golden feathered appendages were in tatters.

"I'm going to have to get my right wing amputated," Shagotte said as she saw the boy's eyes widen even further as he once more met her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Happy murmured as he revealed his get-well gift. "I got this for you… I figured that you would like something that had color to look at while you stayed at the hospital since almost everything here is white."

"Thank you dear. Would you mind putting it on the dresser that's across the room from me?" Shagotte asked kindly.

The blue haired boy nodded his head and did as he was asked. After he let go of the potted plant, he glanced back at Carla, who had been all but silent the entire time. The white haired girl seemed paler than usual, and she looked to be absolutely exhausted. _Has she been crying?!_ Happy internally gasped as he saw faint trails down her face and the skin around her eyes looked a little puffy.

"Happy, was it?" Mrs. Marvell asked.

"Yes ma'am?" came said boy's hesitant reply.

"Are you my daughter's boyfriend?"

"Mother! I told you that-"

"I am not your daughter's boyfriend Mrs. Marvell," Happy said as evenly as possible considering the fact that his heart was about to beat out of his chest and his face was burning with embarrassment.

"Mother," Carla tried again, "I told you that my boyfriend's name is Sammy. He's also a bluenette, but his hair is a lot lighter than Happy's."

"It was an honest mistake," Shagotte shrugged and smiled apologetically at the struggling boy. "I'm sorry dear for assuming. You are a very good friend to my daughter and I'm glad she has you in her life."

"Thank you for your kind words," Happy sincerely replied and bowed a little in respect. "I'm afraid I need to leave now, it's about time for me to go to work. I hope you get to feeling better soon Mrs. Marvell; I'll see you at school Carla."

And with the boy's last regards, he quietly left the room to get to work. Carla stared at the door for a few moments before she heard her mother delicately clear her voice.

"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend dear?"

"Wha- of course not!" the white haired girl exclaimed, frantically waving her arms in front of her.

"That's too bad," Shagotte sighed, bringing her hands together in front of her. "He seems like such a sweet boy; not to mention he was very respectful and thoughtful."

"I know," Carla whispered to herself as she glanced to her mother and then back at the door. _He's much nicer than my actual boyfriend- Where in Mavis' name did that come from?!_ Carla's thoughts warred within her and she blinked her eyes rapidly as if to clear them.

"What was that dear?" the patient asked, unsure if she heard her daughter correctly.

"It was nothing Mother," the white haired girl sighed, moving to the door. "I'm going to go get something to eat; I just realized I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning. Would you like me to get you anything as well?"

"If there is any light soup down in the cafeteria, I would love a cup of it. I'm not too terribly hungry at the moment, but I know that I should eat something. Thank you dear," Shagotte said kindly and watched as her daughter shakily rose from her seat.

"I'll make sure to bring back a light soup for you mother," Carla said softly and felt her mother's eyes on her back as she left the room.

* * *

 **Chappie number three is complete! I want to thank everybody who viewed this story and I hope that you liked what you read.**

 **A very special thank you to Grimnack and Eddingsfan for your reviews! Feedback is always very appreciated and it keeps the muse from running away!**

 **I'm all over the place while I'm writing this story! Seriously, I've finished the epilogue and I have made very good progress on a chappie that is two or three chapters after this one… But that's beside the point.**

 **Again, thank you so much for your views and reviews! And until next time, buh-bye! :D**


	4. You Want Me to Meet You When?

**So guess what?! I'm here with another chappie of this awesome story! I'm very sorry about the wait; if you want to know a few details as to what has been happening in my life currently, I have written a small note on my profile. Thank you so much for sticking with me! 2016 was a difficult year, but I'm looking forward to what comes next.**

 **Disclaimer: Stop thinking those thoughts! They are unbecoming and unfit to be seen here! *Ahem***

* * *

A CHappy Ending Ch. 4

"I'm glad to have some sense of normalcy," Carla said solemnly in greeting to her mentee.

"Hello to you too Carla," Happy said in a slightly confused tone.

"You are probably wondering why there is a large male acting as my shadow, yes?" The white haired girl's answer was a nod.

"Good news; I have a bodyguard so that future would-be assailants will be discouraged," Carla scoffed. "His name is Pantherlily Redfox."

"Uh… nice to meet you… Mr. Redfox?" the boy squeezed out.

"Pantherlily will be just fine," said male calmly replied in a deep voice. "I will be accompanying Miss Carla for the foreseeable future. I hope that you aren't the person responsible for this situation."

"Uh, why?" Happy asked.

"Because I would have to use lethal force to subdue you. I will admit openly that I become a bit overzealous in a fight."

"Good to know!" Happy squeaked, utterly terrified of the brute in front of him.

"And on that thrilling note," Carla sarcastically commented, "I think it's high time for us to continue your lessons Happy."

"Aye!"

* * *

Happy's tutoring sessions went along these lines for the next few days; Pantherlily silently sitting in on Carla's spirited lessons while Happy fought the urge to look for a hole to crawl into.

"Happy, continue to work on these exercises while I go to powder my nose. I should return in a few minutes, so make sure you have some work done," Carla said, rising from her seat. The mentee nodded his head in acceptance of the task and turned back to his work.

"Hey Pantherlily?" Happy asked as soon as he heard the door snick shut.

"Yes Happy?"

"Can I please train under you so that I can learn self defense?"  
"I suppose that wouldn't be a bad thing. Is there a particular reason for this request Happy?"

"U-uh… n-n-no… Why ever would you think something like that…?" Pantherlily stared down the sweating pupil.

"No particular reason," the guard replied with a cheshire cat smirk.

"Hey Pantherlily?" Happy asked hesitantly after a few minutes of complete silence.

"What is it boy?"

"Have you ever regretted becoming a guard?" The question threw the older male off guard.

Regaining his train of thought, Pantherlily replied, "I never have once regretted it. I have always had an innate calling to protect people. Seeing the comfort and security I can bring into a household truly makes my job worthwhile."

"Huh…" Happy said noncommittally as he stared at a spot on a wall for a few more moments before returning his gaze to Pantherlily. "When can we start?"

"We can start tomorrow morning; meet me at five in the morning sharp at the address I will provide you. Allow me to write it down for you." Pantherlily replied, scribbling down the information on a scrap of paper and sliding it towards his pupil to be. The bluenette nodded in thanks and pocketed the paper.

"Okay Happy, let's see how you have been doing on your math homework," Carla announced as she returned to the room, frowning when she saw the lack of progress on Happy's scratch paper.

"Miss Marvell, I asked Happy a personal question that took up most of the time you were absent. Please forgive me; I had to run a test on him." Pantherlily interjected before Carla could scold the boy. Happy flashed the guard a look of thankfulness and hurriedly turned towards his Calculus homework.

"Very well then," the white haired girl sighed, resigning herself once more to tutoring Happy. "I'll give you a few more minutes to make some progress. Please have something to actually show me this time."

* * *

"I'm home mother!" Carla called out as she opened the door that lead from the garage to the kitchen. The white haired girl didn't wait for a response as she made herself a small snack and went to her room. Setting down her bag on the floor and her snack on her desk, she sat in her desk chair and pulled out her journal.

"Getting to work already are we?" came a deep, amused tone from behind the girl, causing her to turn from her writing.

"I just figured that I should journal while the memory's fresh; that's what the counselor instructed me to do."

"Of course Miss Marvell. I suppose I'll leave you to your devices then; I'll be right outside if you have need of me." Pantherlily stated, walking through the doorway  
"Thank you Lily, that will be all for now." Carla said and went back to writing her entry as she heard the door shut. She wrote for about 15 minutes before she sat back to take a break from her work.

Gazing off in a random direction, she noticed a bright yellow blob on her night stand. Focusing in on it revealed to be the small yellow bloom that Happy had given to her mother while she was still in the hospital.

"How did this get here?" the white haired girl murmured as she stepped closer to it to further examine the flower.

"Lily? Do you know how this daffodil found its way to my quarters?" She called out, hoping that her guard was still by the door.

"Are you talking about that small yellow flower on your night stand?"  
"The very same."

"Your mother said that it was yours; something about your boyfriend giving it to you as a present?"

"Ooh that meddling woman," Carla grumbled before raising her voice again. "My boyfriend did not give this flower to me; Happy gave this bloom to my mother when she was still in the hospital."

"Since it isn't yours, should I remove the offending article Miss Marvell?"

"No, it can stay," the girl sighed in defeat after a few moments of scrutiny of the daffodil. "I was just confused as to why it was here. Thank you very much Lily; I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It is never a problem miss," the dark skinned man replied, trying very hard to keep the mirth out of his tone.

The rest of Carla's evening was more quiet. Her mother was well enough to go on a business trip so Shagotte was out and she had tried a time or two to message Sammy, but to no avail; apparently he was working late again at his internship. She had even messaged some of her female classmates that she sometimes worked on projects with but they were all busy doing their own homework or hanging out with their boyfriends.

"Well I'm glad to see that I'm not really on anyone's priority list," Carla huffed, trying not to allow her negative emotions to completely conquer her mood. "I guess it's about time for me to go to sleep anyways. Glancing at the clock on her night stand, she inwardly groaned when the device proudly displayed that it was only 8:30. "I suppose that I catching up on my sleep wouldn't harm much… right?"

The white haired beauty then made an executive decision to soak out the remainder of her evening before retiring and gathered her night clothes so she wouldn't have to trek back across her cold room naked after her bath. As she waited to the water to rise, she collected some of her scented candles and one of her novels that she hadn't finished yet to keep her occupied.

Sliding into the bath, Carla released the breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm glad I can at least have this comfort…" The girl's thoughts aloud trailed off as she silently enjoyed the rest of her warm water. Deciding to prevent any possible pruning skin from an extra long soak, she hopped out and hurriedly dressed herself to ward off the instant chill that assaulted her body. After returning the candles and her book to their proper places, she settled under the warm covers of her bed. _Hopefully, tomorrow will be better..._

* * *

"This place is huge," Happy commented in amazement as he arrived in front of an enormous mansion at 4:55 the next morning. Any drowsiness he might have felt before was immediately washed away in the awe of this building.

"- to go?"

"Huh?" was Happy's eloquent response as the tail end of a sentence snapped him out of his reverie.

"I said, are you ready to go?" Forcing himself to turn towards the voice, the bluenette found Pantherlily standing to his side with arms crossed over his chest.

"Uh, yeah… Is this the Marvell household?"

"Yes. Follow me."

Five minutes and a small tour later, Happy found himself in the personal gym of the bodyguards' wing.

"This place is so huge…" the boy said as he took in his surroundings.

"A little bit too large in my personal opinion," the guard mumbled under his breath as he jumped up into the boxing ring. "If you would stop gaping your mouth like a cod and join me in the ring, we will start your training."

Happy shook his head. "Aye!" After crawling between the ring ropes onto the platform, the bluenette watched in growing anticipation as Pantherlily brought out two sets of boxing gloves.

"Have you ever boxed before?" Happy immediately shook his head. "I figured as much," Pantherlily grumbled before tossing his pupil a pair of the gloves. "Strap these on and I'm going to give you a crash course in how this is vaguely supposed to work. Do note that when practicing actual self defence, you will more than likely not come across an opponent who will attack at you cleanly. Today, I'm going to thoroughly assess your current skill as a fighter and then I will build a training regimen according to what needs to be worked on. Prepare yourself."

Despite the guard's warning, the poor bluenette didn't get much of a forewarning before the he was rushed by the hulking male.

* * *

"I… I'm not sure… I can… go on…" Happy panted after he peeled himself off the ring floor what seemed the nth time that morning.

"So this is the extent of your determination?" Pantherlily said as he stopped his lunge.

"I-I never said… that…" the boy wheezed trying to have the energy to look put off.

"No, you did," the larger male said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Your body language tells me that you want to learn how to defend yourself, but you do not have the discipline to keep on working. When you have assailant in real life, they will not hesitate to beat you while you're down. You must learn to keep going even when you feel like you could fall over at any moment. Do you understand?"

"I think so…" Happy squeezed out as he straightened his posture, once more putting up his glove covered fists.

"I'm going to lunge at you again. Show me your grit!" Pantherlily barked and sprang towards his student once more.

"Aye sir!" the bluenette cried as he made a lunge of his own to meet the dark skinned man.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! I love Pantherlily! I think that he would make such a hilarious bodyguard. He seems to be very no nonsense and then he has all of these odd little quirks that always crack me up! Go Happy for pursuing his crush! Just in case someone wanted to know, a yellow daffodil symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings. I think it was very sweet of Happy to give Mrs. Marvell this gift because he meant it to be an encouragement for a speedy recovery. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!**

 **Thank you so very much for your reviews Grimnack, Dragon Tamer, and k9defend! Hearing from you guys really helps me think about how I can make my content even better for my wonderful viewers!**

 **I have a question for you all; should I expand upon the relationships in this story? I have a crap ton of character notes in my outline and bouncing around in my brain and I would love to use them. I'm just afraid that if I added all of my thoughts in, it would slow the story's pace down. Since this is a shorter story, do you think I should write a companion fiction to hash out "extra scenes" that don't exactly fit in for more background? Please let me know what you think and until next time my wonderful viewers, buh-bye! :D**


	5. How did I do?

**Welcome back! As promised, here's a brand new chappie of "A CHappy Ending!" Thank you all so much for your patience and I hope that you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Please, don't hurt yourself.**

* * *

A CHappy Ending Ch. 5

"Alright Happy," Carla said as she leveled her hard stare on her pupil's face. "Semester finals are coming up in about two weeks. To ensure that you will ace your upcoming examinations, I think that it is a good idea for us to have longer sessions until the end of the semester. I will leave the final decision to you because ultimately, this is your education we are currently talking about. Do you have any questions or concerns before we get started on what I have planned for today?"  
"I think I'm starting to get the hang of most of my core subjects, so I was hoping that we'd spend most of this time on calculus and then possibly quizzing with the time we have left," Happy nodded, as if voicing his thoughts out loud.

"Apparently we had a similar train of thought," the white haired tutor smirked, slapping down a new review book that Happy hadn't seen her pull out before.

The boy groaned as he flipped through the new book, deeming it to be the next round of mental torture. "Why couldn't we just work on the homework assignment?" the bluenette pouted.

"Because we both know you need the extra practice," she deadpanned, raising a chuckle out of Lily who was watching them in amusement.

"Aye…"

* * *

Happy Dragneel wasn't usually one to be overly nervous about his grades, but he knew just how important these finals were to his academic standing in the school. If he didn't have a passing average for the semester, he'd be kicked out without so much as a backward glance. The 15 minutes between the final school bell ringing and the principal's secretary coming out to post the final scores on their exams felt like the bluenette had sunk into the gates of Tartaros. He couldn't help the nervous twitching that plagued his entire body and there were a few students who gave him extra space when they noticed his odd movements.

The mass of students surged forward as soon as the secretary started tacking up the large banner, crowding her as they looked for their names.

"Wait until I'm finished!" she cried, shouldering stubborn youths out of her way. "Then everyone can look at their scores and I won't get trampled!" Soon, she was finished posting the large roll of paper and hastily made her exit.

Happy's heart felt like it was trying to run a marathon as he slowly made his way towards the front of the crowd, the cheers and cries of his fellow students lost in the roaring of his pulse in his ears. When he was finally in range to see the names and scores clearly, he first checked in the middle of the page, knowing that their names were all listed by the numerical value of all of the grades on their finals combined. The blue haired boy figured he'd be somewhere in the middle and after a few long moments of searching the center of the list, he grew panicked.

 _Oh crap! Did I fail?!_ He thought to himself, his eyes growing wider as they flicked from name to name. Feeling the shame creep over him like a wet blanket, he craned his head to the right to where the lower scores were located.

More time was spent and still he couldn't find his name. Shaking his head to clear it of his dismay, he thoroughly checked the entire right side of the list before he came to a realization. _I did… well?_ The bluenette's pulse quickened again but for a completely different reason. Whipping his head to the left, he didn't have to look far before he spotted his name. "Number 12…" he gasped in amazement and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was reading the list correctly. "I made all 'A's'... I made all 'A's'!" Disentangling himself from the mob of students, he looked for his tutor so he could relay the good news.

"Carla! Carla!" Happy called out excitedly as soon as he saw the white haired beauty standing in the secluded hallway after most of the students had left campus for the semester.

"Yes Happy?"

"I made an 'A' on all of my finals!" the boy rushed out as he closed the gap between the two students.

"Oh!" Carla exhaled in pleasant surprise. She had been hoping the best for him, but she was concerned about his calculus final. "I'm glad for you."

"I wanted to thank you for not giving up on me Carla," Happy said, dialing down the excitement of the mood with the redness coating his cheeks.

"You are quite welcome," the white haired girl smiled.

"I think you deserve a break," the bluenette said suddenly, causing a look of confusion to fall on his tutor's face.

"What?"

"What I mean to say is," the boy backpedaled, the redness never leaving his face, "I think that you should take tonight off in celebration. I mean, I did make 'A's' on all my finals. I don't think I should keep you from enjoying your first night of winter break. You should have a good time enjoying a successful semester with your friends or with your boyfriend!" Carla missed Happy's brief pained expression when he mentioned her boyfriend, drawn into her own thoughts about spending time with Sammy.

"I suppose that would be a good idea, yes?" she exhaled after a silent moment, reaching into her pocket to take out her phone. After typing away at her screen, Carla paused before hitting the send button. "Could I stay with you a little longer? I think we should discuss plans for the holiday break."

"That sounds like a good idea," Happy admitted, silently relieved that she didn't mind possibly giving him lessons over the break.

"Allow me send a message to Sammy and then we can discuss a schedule," the white haired female said absentmindedly, typing for a few more seconds before deciding her message was satisfactory enough to send. "Okay, so how often do you think we should meet up?"

After a few moments to ponder, Happy spoke. "I think that we could drop down to every other day. I mean, we aren't really learning any new curriculum, but we do have projects that are due when we get back. Speaking of which, do you have a partner for the physics project?"

"As a matter of fact, I do not," Carla coolly replied. "Would you mind being my partner? It would save on extra visits I might have to make going to my other friends' homes and I can make sure you understand the work and do a good job on it."

"So I guess it's settled then," Happy chirped. "Well, I guess I'll be going... I'll see you around!"

The boy was about to walk into the next hall when Carla was struck with an idea. "Happy! Happy wait!"

"What is it Carla?" said boy asked in confusion as he saw his mentor making quick strides his way.

"Let me give you my number," Carla said, reaching out her hand.

"U-uh… Okay…" Happy stuttered out, bewildered that his crush basically asked to exchange numbers with him. After a few moments of staring at her hand, he realized he hadn't given her his phone and proceeded to do so. "Should I give you mine also? It would make sending messages easier."

"I suppose that would be a good idea," Carla agreed and pulled out her own device to hand to the boy.

"Okay," Happy breathed out as he tapped the save contact button. "I think that just about covers it…"

"I'll probably message you on Sunday to see when you are available for next week," Carla nodded, pocketing her phone. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Yes! I'll talk to you soon!" Happy called over his shoulder as the pair split off.

After a few quiet moments, Pantherlily appeared by his charge's side. "I didn't realize the two of you hadn't exchanged numbers yet…"

"I hadn't even thought about it until I realized that I wouldn't see him at school next week," the girl chuckled wryly as they walked toward the car. As Lily started the engine, Carla received a response from Sammy. "Pantherlily, my boyfriend would like to hang out with me. Is it okay if we go to meet him?"

"I don't see why we can't," the guard shrugged, looking in the rearview mirror. "Where are we going?"

"I'm finding that out now…" Carla trailed off as she concentrated on her message. After a few quiet moments, her boyfriend's message made her chuckle dryly. "He wants us to meet up in the park just south of the downtown area."

"We are currently eight minutes away if you would like to let him know," Pantherlily replied, briefly shifting his gaze to the rearview mirror to see Carla typing his response to send to Sammy. The rest of the trip passed by in companionable silence as the pair seemed to prepare themselves for the outing to come.

* * *

"It was good of us to have time together," the male said, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes, I believe so too," Carla said, a wan smile adorning her soft pink lips. "I'm glad we finally found time to spend together."

"Shall we go to dinner then?"

"Please lead the way." And like that, the pair of youths were off to what Carla figured was one of the more "refined" places in town. Many businessmen and women frequented the establishment and the white haired female had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as they walked in the front doors. _Of course he would want to go somewhere he could potentially further his business relations and contacts. Why would I have expected anything else?_

"How many are in your party?" a hostess asked politely, darting her eyes between the pair.

"Two," Sam replied coolly, placing one of his hands in a pocket.

"Table or booth?"

"Table," Sam stated before Carla could open her mouth to ask her boyfriend whether or not they could have a booth. Carla didn't miss the wolfish glint in the hostess's eye as the girl sized up the pale bluenette for far too long to be platonic.

"No kid's menus then?" The hostess's voice came out laced in coquettish sarcasm.

"No thank you. Would you mind showing us to our table?" Carla asked politely, neatly tucking her anger behind the brightness in her eyes.

"But of course," the other female sighed, acting as if she had just been denied a basic exceed right. "If you two will follow me, I will take you both to your table."

"What was her problem?" Carla grumbled as soon as the hostess was out of earshot.

"It could be because I sometimes ask her to dine with me when I come here by myself. She might not have realized I have a girlfriend," the male shrugged, his tone callous and cold.

Even though she was unsatisfied with her answer, Carla decided not to press further, knowing that he wouldn't expand on his explanation. Despite the liveliness around them in the restaurant, dinner went by in heavy silence, the pair barely breaking the quiet with mundane conversation. The only time Sammy's facial expression would change into anything remotely positive was when he saw a coworker or one of his bosses from his internship, where he would give his full attention to them as they talked about boring politics and stuffy subjects which were normally reserved for crotchety old men.

 _What was the point of even asking me to dinner if we weren't even going to be spending our time together?_ Carla thought bitterly to herself as she displaced her displeasured gaze onto her plate. After Sammy paid for their meal, he led his girlfriend out of the restaurant and onto the streets of downtown.

"Where are we going now?" the white haired female inquired as they fell in step together.

"I thought I would take you out for dessert at your favorite shop as an apology. I'm sorry, I thought I could reign in my 'business side' as you call it while we were in the restaurant, but obviously, I failed at that miserably. I hope you can forgive me…" the bluenette trailed off, giving his girl a look full of remorse.

"I suppose that it is fair compensation," Carla half-jokingly replied, allowing a small smile to curl her lips upward.

The pair walked arm in arm to Carla's favorite tea shop, "The Flying Birman," and the girl was overwhelmed by the scents of the different teas they had for sale. She immediately went over to the lidded metal bins of loose leaf teas, lifting each lid and wafting the tantalizing aromas before replacing the lid and moving to the next bin. The white haired beauty had always had a soft spot for tea and places like this that had so many types drew her in like a moth to flame.

"Have you decided what you are going to order yet?" came Sammy's amused voice from behind her and she spun on her heel to face him with pinkened cheeks.

"Y-yes!" Carla snapped in false indignance, eliciting a chuckle from the icy blue haired boy. After a few more moments of browsing, the couple moved to the counter to place their order.

The rest of their evening went well; they ate their dessert and drank their tea, talked a few minutes more about their goals for the rest of the year and bade each other polite farewells.

When Carla arrived home, she messaged a couple of her friends to ask if they wanted to hang out the next day and settled into a relaxing bath. After rejuvenating herself with hot water, the white haired exceed burrowed into her nest of blankets, drifting off to a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! This chapter was really hard for me to write for some reason… On the bright side, the chappie after this one is complete so I will be posting it eight days from now! Again I do apologise for the wait! And look at Happy go! Scoring a pretty girl's digits! Such a proud moment.**

 **Thank you so much Grimnack for your review! I really appreciate your added verbal support! I realized I never responded to your review (as per my custom) and I apologise! I didn't know if you would have wanted me to PM you about it so late, but I'll give you an extra shout out and virtual cake!**

 **On a side note, I've recently picked up being a beta for R3al and their story "Nothing More." Please go check out R3al-chan's profile and give their fiction a read, it's pretty great! Thank you so much again for reading my story! Please stay safe, have a wonderful day and until next time, buh-bye! :D**


	6. A Break?

**So I wrote this chappie way out of order… I started this one before I was even finished with the first chappie because the fluffy thought was just too cute for me to waste my inspiration! Please enjoy this chappie; I know I certainly enjoyed writing it!**

 **Disclaimer: Please don't get any ideas… I think I might own the plot but nothing else.**

* * *

A CHappy Ending Ch. 6

It was during one of their winter break sessions when Carla decided that she was fed up with tutoring for the day. After a few minutes of clicking her perfectly groomed nails on the kitchen table inside Happy's home, she finally slammed the textbook that Happy was working on shut and slid out of her chair.

"What is it Carla?" Happy asked quietly, by this point used to his tutor's methods.

"We're going shopping. I can't stand the sight of you in these worn hand-me-downs any longer!"

"W-what?!" Happy stammered as yet another blush rose on his cheeks. "What's wrong with my clothes?!"

"Your clothes are practically hanging off of you and you're asking _me_ what's wrong?" the girl asked incredulously as she walked over and plucked at the side of Happy's shirt and they both watched as she measured out at least 25 centimeters from the seam of the shirt to where she felt his skin as if to prove a point. Pantherlily, who had been quietly sitting in a corner of the room, bit the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling. He had a similar conversation with the boy just this past week.

Happy didn't want to admit it, but she did have a point. While his clothes certainly covered him adequately, they were from an older (and much larger) cousin of his that had stretched all of the seams out. The blue haired boy ended up having to tuck in all of his shirts (or risk having his shirts mistaken for dresses) and have all of his pants hemmed so that he wouldn't swim in them. He also didn't want to disclose the information that he was one month into a training program from Tartaros with Pantherlily, her bodyguard, as his personal slave driver… While he was pleased to say that his limbs were indeed larger and more toned than they were before, he was still on the scrawny side.

"Is that Miss Marvell I'm hearing in our kitchen Happy?" a sweet feminine voice said and Happy groaned in anticipation of the embarrassment surely to come.

"Hi mom," Happy winced out as he tried to school his features.

"Hello Mrs. Dragneel," Carla politely smiled as she gave the blue haired woman her attention. "We decided that it was a better idea to study in your home today, so here we are. As a matter of fact, we just finished for the day and so we are now going to go into town. We'll be out of your hair in no time –"

"Nonsense! It's never a bother to have you here Carla. I appreciate any help you can give my son," Marl said warmly as she set her shopping down on the kitchen countertops.

"Mom, let me help you with that," Happy quickly stated as he sprang up from his chair to help his mother put all of the bags safely on the counter. "Are there any bags left to carry in?"

"Just one more quick trip should do it! I can get the rest by myself, so you can just go along with Carla and have fun," Happy's mother confirmed as she turned to go get the rest of the bags.

"No Mom, you need to rest. The doctor told you not to push it, remember?" Happy firmly stated as he led his mother to the kitchen table and gently sat her down in one of the chairs. Once he was sure that the older woman wouldn't move from her spot, he walked out the door she came through to go collect the rest of the grocery bags.

"You'd think I was a total invalid with the way he acts," Marl chuckled, refocusing Carla and Pantherlily's attention back on the tired looking woman. "The doctor only said it was a degenerative back disease, not a death sentence."

"Forgive me for any offense this might cause, but wouldn't causing excess strain in your condition only speed up the degenerative process? I don't think a doctor would give such advice flippantly…" Pantherlily mused, curious to see the ailing woman's reaction to his comments.

"I know that. Ever since I was diagnosed six months ago, my husband and son have been doing the best they could to ease my burdens. I had to retire from my job early because of the strain my back was under after standing all day every day. My son even picked up a part time job to help ease the financial stress that Lucky and I were having due to my medical bills. That sweet boy hardly ever thinks of himself; I just wanted him to have an afternoon to act like a normal teenage boy would," Marl said with a wistful smile.

"Forgive me for asking, but what do you mean?" Carla asked the woman sitting across from her with a puzzled expression on her face. The blue haired woman sighed and gave her a sad smile.

"As much as my son tries to hide it from his father and myself, I know that he's been struggling with making friends. His sight has always been a tender subject to him, and he can be quite shy. So when he walked in the front door almost two months ago with a wide grin on face and a sparkle in his eyes, I could tell that something wonderful had happened."

"What was that?" Carla inquired, her interest piqued.

"When I asked him why he had a huge grin on his face, he simply hugged me and sat me down at the table. You want to know what he said to me next?"

The white haired girl nodded intently with anticipation.

"He told me, 'Mom, I think I just made a friend! She finally started telling me a bit about herself today.' Before that day, he hardly ever used the word 'friend;' but that day someone had finally let him, if only a little bit, into their life. Someone had cared enough to share a bit of their story with him, and he was ecstatic. And I firmly believe that he was talking about you dear," Marl said as she watched the recognition and the shock flash in Carla's eyes.

"B-but we hardly even know each other!" the girl spluttered out, the comment a far cry from her usual composed self.

"Oh I know that," Marl said with a knowing smile settling on her face. "I just have a feeling that you two will get to know each other very well in the future."

Any reply Carla would have made was interrupted by Happy's entrance into the kitchen, effectively shattering the quiet air with his wide grin and loud announcement.

"Okay mom! That's the last of the bags so I think I can trust you enough to man the fort for the afternoon," Happy cheerfully said as he deposited the rest of the shopping onto the countertops. As he saw no one move for a few seconds, he decided he would take in the scene around him to remove his obliviousness of the situation. Marl, Carla, and Pantherlily were all sitting at the table with different expressions on their faces; Carla had a look of confusion, Pantherlily seemed like he was deeply assessing something, and Marl was grinning like she was clever for discovering the answer to an incredibly difficult problem. "What's with the faces?"

This snapped Carla out of her confusion and she quickly rose out of her chair. "Nothing! I think it's high time we left. Come along Happy, Pantherlily."

Happy gave his mother a confused "good bye" and followed after the white haired girl's sudden retreat. Pantherlily just smirked as he gave a nod to Marl and silently tailed the pair out of the Dragneel household and towards the retail district of Central.

* * *

Carla was frustrated. She couldn't find a style of clothing that "fit" Happy's style. After walking in and out of so many stores, letting him choose clothes, and finding nothing, she knew the morale of the company she kept was dropping.

"Let's try this store next. I'm going to pick what you're wearing this time," Carla said, dragging the poor boy into yet another clothing store. After selecting a pair of slim cut blue jeans, a simple short sleeved button down white shirt, and a pair of brown boat shoes, she shoved him into the nearest dressing room and shut the door. "Try these all on at once!" She glanced over at an accessory stand and noticed that there was a green striped bowtie and promptly threw it over the top of the door on a whim.

After a few minutes of shuffling sounds and low mutterings, the changing room door opened to reveal a marginally uncomfortable Happy. "These pants feel too tight…" Happy mumbled as he pulled slightly at said offending fabric.

"Happy, with all due respect, I believe that any piece of clothing that you wear properly will more than likely feel tight to you in comparison to your usual wardrobe," Pantherlily wryly commented as he waited for Carla's verdict.

All the while, Carla was mentally scolding herself for her choice of clothing. It was refreshing to see that Happy could look good in some type of clothing, but this style was a little much for her. The crisp white shirt he left untucked nicely complemented his skin tone and really framed his shoulders and arms well. Seeing him actually wear jeans that fit him was a strange sight; where his pants would normally be billowing in the wind, they hugged his toned legs. The white haired girl internally grinned when she saw the cuffs of Happy's jeans neatly rolled up just above the brown boat shoes that made his feet look slightly larger, no doubt because the pant legs were too long. Darting her eyes back up to his face, she noted his sky blue disheveled hair and his uncomfortable, yet intent expression as he stared back at her through his enormous thick-rimmed glasses. Her eyes finally landed on the green and darker green striped bowtie around his throat and decided that the entire outfit suited him nicely. _That bowtie works so well, downplaying his huge glasses._ _He looks way too adorable! Wait, why am I even thinking like that?!_ _One I have a boyfriend, and two, we only have a tutor/peer relationship!_ Carla's thoughts warred within her. After a few more moments of internal struggle, Pantherlily cleared his throat, effectively bringing Carla out of her thoughts.

"So what do you think Carla?" Happy asked quietly, silently praying that there would be some relief in the endless stream of trying on clothes.

"Hmmm…" Carla said after a long moment, crossing and uncrossing her arms. "I think that this style suits you well." Before Happy could cheer in victory, the girl cut him off once more. "I also think that the glasses need to go. So here… we… go…" Carla trailed off slowly as she took the glasses off of the bluenette's face.

If the girl thought he was cute before, Mavis help her now because Carla was seriously trying to keep a platonic train of thought. Without his glasses, Carla could see the true size and shape of his eyes and it startled her to realize that they were actually proportional to his face. They were almond shaped and slightly tilted up at the outer corners, giving him a gleeful look. His dark irises were somehow a warm pitch black mixed with a hint of charcoal and were framed with beautiful long, thick lashes that Carla could dare say catapulted him almost into the bishounen category. Happy's transformation went from "adorable nerd" to "pretty frickin' attractive" so quickly it practically melted poor Carla's brain.

"Uh, Carla? Do I look okay? I can't see your facial expression and you've been really quiet…" the blue haired boy started nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets and creasing his eyebrows.

The silent girl was a complete mess of raging hormones as she slowly closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek. _You'd have thought I've never seen a teenage boy before…_ Carla mentally sighed as she rubbed her temples.

"Miss Marvell, I do believe the boy asked you a question," Pantherlily chimed in, an amused gleam in his eyes watching the usually calm and collected girl jump and fix him with a wide-eyed look.

"I, uh… That is… Um, I think that youneedtowearcontactssoI'mgoingtogetyousomerightnow!" Carla rushed. Realizing what she had done, she face-palmed herself and felt her cheeks warm considerably.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Happy asked as his face cutely scrunched up in confusion, once more sending Carla's thoughts into overdrive and making her stomach try little flip-flops.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Carla tried again. "I said, I'm getting you contacts. End of story."

"W-w-what?!" the boy squeaked. "Y-you can't do that! My parents and I looked into that a while back and they're seriously expensive, I can't put you out like that-"

"Consider it my Christmas gift to you," Carla murmured as she ran her eyes over his face once more. _I think it might be a Christmas gift for everyone…_ "No offense Happy, but my mother makes quite a bit more money than your family and she wouldn't mind parting with it for a good cause. This is definitely one of those causes."

"Uh… Okay," said Happy nervously as he shifted his feet. "So is my outfit okay Carla?"

Pantherlily stifled a chuckle watching the girl in question attempting to sift through her emotions, each expression more humorous than the last.

"Take it easy on the poor girl," the bodyguard grinned as he took in Happy's oblivious confusion and Carla's embarrassed warning glare. "I don't think that what she found was what she was expecting."

 _Boy did you hit the nail on the head there Pantherlily…_ Carla thought as she gathered herself. "I think that, especially with the contacts you're getting, we've found you a new style. I'm going to give your glasses back so that you can select more outfits similar to the one I have picked out for you. I'll give you the final say, but I believe that once you have a model, you can do your own shopping. Sound good?"

"Aye!" Happy cheered and tried to rush back into the dressing room, but hit his head when he walked into the wall next to the door.

Trying to stifle a giggle, Carla made her way to the blue haired male and tapped him on the shoulder. "It would behoove you to wear your glasses. Here," the girl said and held them out to the poor boy.

"Thanks," Happy sheepishly replied and slowly perched his glasses on his nose.

Watching the instant magnification of his eyes and transformation back into a nerd, Carla let out a sad sigh, much to her surprise. _Why am I suddenly so invested in his appearance? It's not like I care…_ Carla's thoughts trailed off while she shook her head to clear it. _I'm just helping my fashion-stunted mentee so that I don't have to stare at his poor fashion sense constantly! That's it!_

"Okay Carla, I'm back!"

Carla returned from her thoughts to stare at an excited Happy. "Okay, let's go find some more clothes. I think 15 days' worth of outfits should be about what you need. Come along Happy," the white haired girl said and grabbed Happy's elbow to drag him towards the racks of clothing. Now that they had a model to follow, the struggle of finding clothes that worked for Happy all but disappeared.

Within 45 minutes of picking out and trying on clothes after finding the first outfit, the trio found themselves making their way to the register to purchase their spoils. As they passed on of the last clothing display tables, Happy stopped, enamored by what he saw.

"Carla!" the boy exclaimed, turning his gaze toward his mentor.

"What is it?"

"I really would like a pair of these shorts…" the bluenette plead softly, pointing to the apparel in question. The shorts were made of a navy blue cotton with light blue tuna fish embroidered all over them. The shorts had a tailored look to them, but Carla could see why he wanted them.

"Go ahead and grab your size," Carla replied in an amused tone, watching as her mentee practically bounced in excitement over to the stack of clothes. A few moments later, a positively beaming bluenette rejoined her and they went to the register to pay for their spoils.

* * *

Saying her farewells to her charge after their successful hunt, Carla steered Pantherlily to her other appointment for the day with another bluenette. They had agreed to meet in one of the nicer local parks that was half the distance between their homes.

"Good evening Carla dearest," came a deep voice and the white haired girl spun around to face her boyfriend.

"Hello Sammy," Carla greeted politely.

"You look lovely this evening," came the blue haired male's standard reply to which the girl smiled wanly.

"How is your internship? I haven't really gotten to see you as of late," Carla hedged, knowing that she could always divert his attention to his work.

"Business has been booming, as per usual," Sammy said with a businessman's smile; a look that the beautiful girl knew all too well.

"What did they let you try out this time?"

"Oh, it was a myriad of things beginning with…"

Carla let him talk, knowing that he wanted nothing more than to hear himself speak about his work. Sometimes she wondered why she allowed herself to date this boy; she knew that there weren't any feelings between either of them. She supposed that subconsciously it was to please her mother by having a boyfriend who was so successful and stable. _But Mother loved meeting Happy… She still asks about him every time I come back from a tutoring session…_

"What do you think about that Carla?"

"Oh! I am terribly sorry, what was your question?" the white haired girl shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"I asked, what do you think about finally introducing me to your mother? I think it's time for us to take the next step in our relationship. I mean, we are perfect for each other considering our work ethics and our intelligence…"

 _Are we really perfect for each other?_ was Carla's immediate thought to his latest monologue. As Sammy rambled on about the merits of their "partnership," she contemplated if she was truly meant to be in this relationship.

A short buzzing noise interrupted her from her thoughts as she saw her boyfriend pluck his phone out of his pocket and stare at the screen.

"I'm terribly sorry to cut our outing short, but it seems that I must go. Something came up for my other part time job and I need to see to some particular details immediately. I'm afraid that we will have to part ways for now. I do apologise for us not being able to spend much time together…" Sammy trailed off, actually looking slightly annoyed by his internship cutting his time short.

"You need to make sure that your company isn't taking advantage of you," Carla said half jokingly, taking both of his hands in hers. "Please be careful. I know we haven't really been able to see each other much this past semester, but I'm hoping that next year we can change that."

"You have a fair point my dear," the bluenette replied in an apologetic tone. "Well, the good news is that we should be able to spend time in each other's company soon because of the winter break. I'll text you later?"

"It sounds like we have an accord," she nodded in agreement and bid her boyfriend a farewell before heading back to her home for the night.

On the car ride home, a buzz in her pocket brought her out of her silent contemplation.

 **Happy D. : So how was your date?**

Rolling her eyes at her mentee's nosiness, she humored him and replied.

 **Carla M. : I think it went well.**

 **Happy D. : You just 'think' it went well? What's that supposed to mean?**

Carla frowned at his question, unsure of how to explain the evening she had just spent with her boyfriend.

 **Carla M. : Well, we met up in the park and walked around together, catching up on our time apart. We were going to go out to dinner, but his internship called him and he had to excuse himself.**

The white haired girl watched the screen of her phone for the next several minutes as the icon indicating that he was writing blinked on and off, as if he was typing his message, completely deleting it, and then rewriting a new one. When she finally received his response, she had arrived home.

 **Happy D. : How would you consider that to be a good date?**

The simplicity of the message annoyed her, especially when it seemed like Happy had more to say on the matter. Furiously typing away at her screen, she fired back a reply.

 **Carla M. : The date was good in that we were able to spend time in each other's company. We haven't been able to see each other much as of late due to our busy schedules. How would you define a 'good' date, smooth operator Happy?**

The writing icon instantly appeared as soon as her message was delivered. Carla waited patiently for a few minutes, watching as it would disappear periodically and then reappear as it did with Happy's previous message. Sighing in annoyance, she decided she would get ready for bed and then check up on her messages. Half an hour later, she was clean and dressed in her pajamas, sliding under the covers with a blissful sigh. Checking her phone once more before she went to sleep, she frowned when no new messages had popped up on her screen. Deciding it was better to just go to sleep and answer his text in the morning, the white haired girl allowed sleep to take her.

The next morning, Carla woke up oddly refreshed. She stretched, feeling her vertebrae pop in satisfaction and turned her attention to her phone on her nightstand, growing eager to see if her mentee had answered her retort.

 **Happy D. : To be fair, I've never been on a date, so I guess my input would be kinda invalid, huh? But if I did have input and I did, in fact, score a date with someone I thought the world of, I would tailor the date to make her happy. I'm hoping that the girl I would take out would be my friend before I asked her out, so I knew at least some of her general likes and dislikes beforehand. If the girl liked fish, I would take her to an aquarium, possibly even see a synchronized water show. If the girl was fond of shopping, I'd suck it up and go shopping with her and carry all her bags without complaint. If the girl was in love with tea and tea ceremony, I'd scour the area to find the most authentic place to have tea and take her there… I could go on a lot longer with examples, but I know you're smart enough to see what I'm trying to say. The point is, this girl humored me and decided to take a chance on me, so I would do everything in my power to make sure that she didn't just have a 'good' date, she had a blast! I want her to be smiling and happy, thoroughly enjoying the time we spend together.**

 **Happy D. : Wow, sorry I sent you a mountain of sappy mush… but yeah. If my input counts, that's what I'd do.**

Carla was shocked; not only because of the length of his messages but of how much thought he had put into his response. Most male classmates she knew didn't think this much about _anything_ , much less dates with girls. Even Sammy didn't always think their dates out completely; he liked some "air of spontaneity" as he called it.

The girl ended up texting back and forth with her mentee all the way up until it was time for her to go visit her friends, greatly amused by the bluenette's awkward avoidance of who exactly he thought about asking on a date. She honestly didn't have a clue, seeing as he avoided everyone in their school almost equally, the only exception being her when it was time for them to have lessons together. Just as she was about to ponder further into the matter, her bodyguard knocked on her bedroom door.

"Miss Marvell, are you ready to go?"

Sighing in temporary defeat, she texted Happy a simple farewell message and turned to the dark skinned exceed. "Yes Pantherlily. Let's go."

* * *

 **So how was it? Was it a furry, fluffy overload of cuteness? Probably not, but I just had to have Happy dress up as a cute little nerd with his glasses before they were taken away! The mental image was too cute to not share! Anyone wanna draw up some fanart for Happy's outfit I described? I think I'd like that picture to be this fiction's cover art, and it's always fun to see what other people's depictions of thought look like! Anyone else love the idea of Happy in cute little fish shorts? I could so see him wearing a pair… Happy's mama is shipping her son so hard core! I feel like she'd totally be a classy troll about matters like this, much like Happy is in the canon universe (maybe not so classy, but Marl had quite a few years to perfect her craft).**

 **Thank you so much for all of your support! Especially R3al-chan, BeesInTheCar, and Grimnack for your reviews!**

 **Please feel free to shoot me any questions or comments you may have about the story or otherwise. But until next time, buh-bye! :D**


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